Very dissapointed in D*

[Reggie3]

Very disappointed in D*

My first post on this forum - and sadly it has to be negative. Wish D* would come clean and give us a firm date and explanation as to why they lead us to believe we would have our HD channels today. They know we all are D* fans and allowed us to build up expectations on these forums.

 

[springers]

So am I.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I agree Reggie. (And welcoome)

The reason so many rumors are flying around the forums is because DirecTV is not saying anything which in turn is leading to fustration and anger by many people.

To make matters worse the false information being given is not coming from me or any of the other sites, the information is coming from DirecTV CSR's. Each CSR will give you a different answer to whats up.

When CSR's do that then folks come to sites like ours and post these things, and people believe it as its gospel. When things dont happen then folks get upset and post it here, so it all snowballs.

 

[Reggie3]

I agree Reggie. (And welcoome)

The reason so many rumors are flying around the forums is because DirecTV is not saying anything which in turn is leading to fustration and anger by many people.

To make matters worse the false information being given is not coming from me or any of the other sites, the information is coming from DirecTV CSR's. Each CSR will give you a different answer to whats up.

When CSR's do that then folks come to sites like ours and post these things, and people believe it as its gospel. When things dont happen then folks get upset and post it here, so it all snowballs.

And it's not like D* does not follow these forums - and the CSR though not always informed clearly had the same info so it meant they had received some internal memos that they were allowed to give out. Even in the other forums where there seemed to be more D* connections - expectations were allowed to build up - and D* did nothing to squash it. Grrrrrrr!

 

[Hemi 6.1]

Well I know what I heard from D* so IMO they are by far in the wrong. Maybe D* should look at these forms,Becasuse everyone on Satellite guys know a hell of a lot more then 90% of the Directv Employees. Its bad when a customer has to be out there to ajust their own satellite dish after and Install. So if the Techs ,don't know,and the CSR's don't know. Then Chase better step into Satellites guys every now and then to learn whats going on with his CSR's

 

[techstar]

It's disappointing. Everything with D* seems to be delayed, or wrong, the first time. We were promised our locals in HD by a certain date, it was missed. Then missed again. Then we finally got them, a good six months after the promise date. Superfan over the PC didn't work the first weekend. This is just par for the course, unfortunately.

 

[Mr. Kennedy]

I'm a little disappointed, but not upset. It's obvious from reading this forum that you can never take for gospel what one person says, whether that person is a D* or E* employee or another member here. In the years that I had E*, I was told different things by each CSR I spoke with when I had a problem. So far with D*, I haven't had that experience but the two calls I made were fairly simple. The thing is, this isn't just an issue with satellite providers. I once had a problem with my water meter being read wrong. Took over five calls to get it fixed and I was told something different by every person I spoke with.


Hopefully this is a lesson learned by some people. Don't rush to believe everything you read. In the end, you'll be less emotionally invested when it doesn't turn out to be the way you thought it would.

 

[uncrules]

From what I read over at DBSTalk before it went down is that D* tried to make things a go very early this morning but they ran into a technical problem(s) and had to roll everything back. I know my H20 wasn't up and running this morning. I had to reset it. My HR20 was okay.

So I don't think the CSRs were wrong in that today was the day they planned to give us the channels. They tried but couldn't for some reason. I also read a post from Earl at DBSTalk from around 10am EST this morning that from what he gathered they wouldn't have the problem fixed today. He did say the problem wasn't related to D10.

 

[syphix]

He did say the problem wasn't related to D10.

Read it again...he said this was not because of a NEW problem with D10...

The discussion in the chatroom at DBSTalk (if you can find it...the server's crashed) is that it's sick spot beams that are affecting the CONUS beam. This is from numerous reports.

Engineers are trying to "fix" the spot beam issue but unfortunately, that is messing with the CONUS beam(s). It's a quality issue, and they've got four choices: 1) put up/release 40-70 HD channels that will look like crap because they're messing with the spot beams (which are somehow affecting the CONUS' quality); 2) put the channels up but turn off the satellite when they want to fix the spot beams; 3) give up on the spot beams (which may happen anyway); or 4) delay the CONUS HD channels.

 

[Plywodstatebum]

Now come on everybody give them a break, it's not easy setting up a sat. and you guys act like there's going to be something on these channels this morning to watch. If they get turned on by the weekend I'll be happy.

 

[ziggy29]

Engineers are trying to "fix" the spot beam issue but unfortunately, that is messing with the CONUS beam(s). It's a quality issue, and they've got four choices: 1) put up/release 40-70 HD channels that will look like crap because they're messing with the spot beams (which are somehow affecting the CONUS' quality); 2) put the channels up but turn off the satellite when they want to fix the spot beams; 3) give up on the spot beams (which may happen anyway); or 4) delay the CONUS HD channels.

This reminds me of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, actually. As I recall, when it launched, it had significant problems with its mirrors that prevented it from functioning well. As a result, engineers had to develop, test and upload a software "fix" to workaround the physical problems with the hardware.

I wonder if something similar may be going on here.

 

[kcromeis]

Im excited for more HD also, but lets be honest...there isnt any good programming on these channels anyways. Bravo and FX probably have the best two, other than that its the movie channels and a bunch of garbage HD. I can wait

 

[uncrules]

Read it again...he said this was not because of a NEW problem with D10...

The discussion in the chatroom at DBSTalk (if you can find it...the server's crashed) is that it's sick spot beams that are affecting the CONUS beam. This is from numerous reports.

Engineers are trying to "fix" the spot beam issue but unfortunately, that is messing with the CONUS beam(s). It's a quality issue, and they've got four choices: 1) put up/release 40-70 HD channels that will look like crap because they're messing with the spot beams (which are somehow affecting the CONUS' quality); 2) put the channels up but turn off the satellite when they want to fix the spot beams; 3) give up on the spot beams (which may happen anyway); or 4) delay the CONUS HD channels.

Ah, ok. Thanks for clarifying that. I doesn't sound good though.

 

[caspper69]

This reminds me of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, actually. As I recall, when it launched, it had significant problems with its mirrors that prevented it from functioning well. As a result, engineers had to develop, test and upload a software "fix" to workaround the physical problems with the hardware.

I wonder if something similar may be going on here.

Actually, they had to develop a new lens to act as glasses for the hubble, launch it up, and have astronauts install it. It was way, way more complicated than a software fix.

 

[zeno303]

After 13 years with D*, I'm sorry to say I am disappointed but not all surprised. Over promise & under deliver.

z

 

[Hemi 6.1]

Actually, they had to develop a new lens to act as glasses for the hubble, launch it up, and have astronauts install it. It was way, way more complicated than a software fix.

Where's Bill Gates when you need him?

 

[ziggy29]

Actually, they had to develop a new lens to act as glasses for the hubble, launch it up, and have astronauts install it. It was way, way more complicated than a software fix.

I'm simplifying. The bottom line is that folks on the ground had to develop software to deal with the problem. Unless you think someone is going to rent a space shuttle and physically swap out and/or fix hardware on the birds in the air, the "fix" here is going to be the software portion.

I worked at Lockheed during that time so I'm well aware of the details. But some of those issues are beyond the scope of this discussion, IMO.

 

[mluntz]

The bottom line is this:

Everybody listened to some dumbass CSR's who don't know squat! When we upgraded equipment, D* got us for another 2 years anyway!

So now we can all bend over and take it! They'll turn on the HD when they are good and ready!

For those of you who stayed up all night just to be dissappointed this morning, I am sorry. Don't lose any more sleep!

It Is What It Is!

Go rent a movie!

 

[Hemi 6.1]

The bottom line is this: now we can all bend over and take it! !

This should be the quote of the day !!

 

[skyviewmark]

That's it!! I can't take it any more.. I am starting a march on El Segundo..